Complete Care at Berkshire

T. Boughter

When our neighbor who we used to enjoy 2 beers a day with while watching traffic or MeTV for to the point he could care for himself full-time and started with cognitive challenges/memory issues, I feared that going into a long term care (skilled nursing) facility was going to be the beginning of the end for him. No way was this 10-year widower going to accept the idea of sharing a room with another person and giving up almost all of his independence. Never did I believe it would be exactly what he needed to keep on thriving. Here we are, 6 months later, and he’s so very content every time we go to visit him. Still walking the halls and enjoying people watching, just at a different pace. And what we least expected, every single time we’ve visited with him, we’ve encountered nothing but friendly smiling faces, at every level. From the reception desk, to the nurses, the aides, and the activity coordinator setting up for game time in the cafeteria - it’s just been heartwarming to see the compassionate personal care and attention - even checking on him while he’s eating dinner in his room! Very impressed and I regret ever thinking this was not going to be the right move for him.

Cathy

We had some problems with Berkshire Center. My mom said that the food was always cold. The registered nurse was wonderful. Her name was Cathy, and she was fantastic. She bent over backwards for my mom. Some of the staff was wonderful. The complaints we have was that my mom needed help to get to the bathroom. She had a stroke. When she would call for somebody to help her, it would be forever until they came; she would have accidents. One time, a staff person put her on the toilet and never came back for her. She can't get up on her own and needed assistance, so that was very frustrating. The whole two weeks she's been there, she only had 1 shower. When I came to see her, her hair was greasy and dirty. I asked repeatedly for them to wash her hair and give her a shower. It didn't happen until the day before she left. On top of it all, they lost most of her clothing. So we've had to keep going back and forth to get her clothes, and we still don't have all of them back. The activities were OK, and I think she was happy about that. One day they took some of the residents outside to get some fresh air, and she enjoyed that because she got to talk to other people. Because of COVID, they only let us into the entryway where there's a desk. I didn't see much. The layout of the place looked alright. It was paid for by Medicare.

Tina Geldersma

My father is in this facility and his health is not good at all. He was placed here for Rehab got very ill was sent to the hospital and then back here. Both times he's been here in two different rooms the phones do not work. He's been in here a total of about 3 week's and we can not call him. In addition they will not let us see him supposedly due to covid restrictions he's been quarantined for two weeks both times he's been placed here. So we have very little to no contact with him and we may not have much time before he's no longer with us. I can't believe that this facility can't get their phone system working?? The family feels almost completely cut off from my father. They also lost all of his belongings from the first to the second time he's been here. We sent a flower my mother went to go pick it up they couldn't find it. We scheduled a family conference call on Thursday with his nurse so the family could find out his condition and at 6:15 in the morning she canceled it because she's going out of town and said maybe we could do it on Monday. Really? Maybe my father won't live till Monday? I'm not happy at all with this facility. I want contact with my father before he passes and i want him taken care of in the meantime.

Provider Response

Madeleine

My mother is at Berkshire Center nursing home right now. She had knee surgery and broke her ankle and so far, they're really good to work with. Everybody I've met and talked to has been very helpful. She likes it. They have their own living room area on each floor where they have games, and there's a little deck where I take my mother every Saturday night to eat outside. She likes their rehabilitation staff, their PT, and OT staff. They really know what they're doing, they're very caring, and very thorough. The food is hospital food, but it's healthy. It's a nice facility.